Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Cone production on Fraser fir can mean serious headaches for tree-growers. Heavy cone years vary. When trees come under stress due to drought or
other environmental conditions, heavy cone years can follow. Last year (2012) was an especially heavy cone year. Growers spent tens of thousands of dollars in labor manually removing cones, which also take away from top-growth production and create unsightly 'pegs' that endure after the cones crumble and release their seeds in the summer.

Last year, Christmas tree specialist Jeff Owen began cone-spraying trials to try and identify an herbicide or plant regulator hormone that might stop or alter cone production. This work was tricky...trying to guess which field might have a high prevalence of cones next year and growers who didn't mind risking some of their trees getting 'burned' in the process. He is continuing this work in 2013.

Monday, May 13, 2013

If
you are interested in learning more about what makes your tween or teen tick
and would you like the opportunity to interact with other parents who have some
of the same challenges and questions as you do, check out myparenthetical.com, an online site offered by
the University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension for parents of children between
the ages of 10-16. Parentheticalis a combination website,
blog and social network. The site provides information and discussion on a
range of topics of interest to parents with children in their emerging teen
years as well as opportunities for support from other parents experiencing many
of the same needs and issues. Posts include subjects likeparent-child conflict, discipline and limit setting, middle school romantic
and peer relationships, the challenges of school achievement and much more. Parentheticalis
available online 24/7 and parents can participate from any web-accessible
device.

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